i'm going to be making my first batch of belgian tripel that i got from morebeer, and plan on making it this weekend on sunday,second overall.I'm new to this stuff, and i love it. I have a few questions so i can be ready to brew. 1)the instructions that came with the kit says to leave it in the fermentor for 2 weeks and then bottle it for about 2-3 weeks.I've been reading around, and found a lot of people saying to leave it in fermentor for like a couple months and then bottle and leave that for a few months.what is recommended?? 2)i have a 4gal kettle,and was wondering if its possible to boil 3gal, and then dump 2 more gallons of water in the fermenting bucket to make it a full 5 gallons??

My last two batches were an extract Belgian strong golden and a Tripel and the results so far are very satisfying so I'll offer advice from my extremely limited experience. First, I think the yeast you're using is fine but one vial will definitely not be enough to do the job. You'll either need to make a starter or get another vial for sure. The first batch of mine was in primary for 5 weeks and then right to bottles. After 4 weeks, they were carbed enough to be drinkable but still tasted green. Now they've been bottle conditioning for 10 weeks and they are fully carbed and probably my best ever homebrew to the extent that when I'm drinking one, there are only a few commercial Belgians I can say I'd prefer. I think a bit longer timeframe for fermenting and bottle conditioning has delivered these great results. It was difficult but I took the advice of those more experienced brewers here and exercised some patience and discipline and am really glad I did. The beer is peaking and I have over a case of it left. The second batch was in primary for 8 weeks and has now been bottle conditioning for 1 1/2 weeks and I'm going to take Revvy's advice with this batch and not even sample it for another month. I think if you're patient and disciplined with this batch you'll be richly rewarded. I'm still pretty much a novice and usually hesitate to give advice but I hope this helps. Good luck